Cody Smyth was born during a snowstorm in 1978 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. He was raised by his mom on the Upper West Side and by his dad in the West Village.

He has been shooting professionally for nearly 20 years and has worked commercially for clients such as MTV, Vanity Fair, NME, Nylon, Dazed & Confused and Ford Models, among others.

He has photographed some of the biggest names in music, including Kanye West, Joan Jett, Dave Gahan, Lil Wayne and Alicia Keys. Since 2001, he has been working with legendary photographer Mick Rock on countless photo and video shoots.